framing basement walls

[nicholas_hannon25]

I'm currently remodiling a basement room, I'm turning it into a bedroom. So the room already is there and the walls are already framed out ontop of the cocrete and foundation. what i'm doing is putting up false walls to hide some pipes and wires also to hide most of the concrete now my question is do i have to use pressure treated wood for just putting up false walls or is there something i can use to treat the wood since i already purchased studs from home depot.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Is their a risk for moisture in your basement? Plain lumber is OK. I won't use chemical laden materila for indoor. When I had this house built I had the basement ceiling higher than usual so I could hide all the things(wiring, ducts, pipes) without lowering the ceiling. One thing, when framing a wall, leave about an inch gap at the top. Should not make it tight fit from bottom to top.

[Art]

The bottom horizontal piece should be treated lumber.

[Colbyt]

I agree with Art on this one.

Colbyt

[Rudy]

or you can use regular 2X4 bottom plate and put a layer of foam sill gasket underneath

[terry]

. A suggestion: In some jurisdictions a 'bedroom' in a basement area is not permitted unless it has windows above ground level that can be used for escape. Although an 'inhabited room' with an alternative way out may be acceptable in some places. Personally I would not put a permanent bedroom in my mainly below ground basement. However a rumpus/recreation room used on rare occasions for an adult supervised 'children's sleepover' party would probably be OK; especially if one has an extra smoke alarm installed on the stairs etc. In particular do not rent out a basement room, for someone to live in. There could be culpability and financial liability in the case of disaster! There are also ventilation and health considerations required by some jurisdictions.

[jimm]

I wish there was a Federal law against covering basement walls, ceilings, and floors. Water seepage into basements is very common, but it is often not noticed if it evaporates quickly before forming droplets or moist carpeting.

When evaporation is enclosed, it tends to condense into liquid, and sits there for years generating mold, spores, and mold waste vapors, if not also wood rot.

And when a water pipe starts to drip, from corrosion or condensation, it can be months before it shows up.

(Viva basement liberation!)